15 
under the Portuguese,. 
into the kingdom of Candy, but with no better success; for 
in the end they were obliged to save themselves by a sudden 
flight from Wallanee, leaving behind their arms and baggage. 
Such were the perpetual but fruitless contests which the 
Portuguese carried on with the natives, for the purpose of ob- 
taining possession of the whole island ; and by the latter, for 
expelling these foreign oppressors. The Portuguese, however, 
had early secured the most important part of it, the sea-coasts, 
where the valuable spiceries were produced. Under Albuquerque, 
the successor of Almeyda, the rich lowlands around and to the 
southward of Columbo already formed a part of their domi- 
nions, and the natives from that time forward only obtained 
possession of them during some accidental incursions. 
Albuquerque was an excellent commander, and an accom- 
plished politician ; but he was deeply tinctured with that insatia- 
ble thirst of military glory which distinguished his countrymen 
in that age ; and dazzled by the glare of extensive conquest, 
he overlooked the solid advantages to be derived from each of 
the countries he subdued. Ceylon in particular seemed designed 
by nature to secure the possessions, and extend the influence, 
of the Portuguese in the eastern w^orld. Its excellent harbour 
of Trincomalee could afford protection to their ships at all 
times of the year, while there was no other station on the 
coasts of India, which could at all periods afford shelter to the 
vessels of any other European power : the island was naturally 
so strong that it could be defended by a comparatively small 
number of troops ; and its situation was so centrical, that troops 
could, with the utmost ease and expedition, be sent from it 
to any part of India. Albuquerque, however, was too much 
engrossed with extending his conquests over the coasts of India, 
